As the importance of knowledge creation and diffusion is increasingly recognized as a major driver of economic growth,
questions are starting to emerge on how to establish the conditions that foster the processes of knowledge sharing across
countries at different levels of development. Under the broad designation of “knowledge for inclusive development,” these
questions defined one of the strongest themes of the 2
nd
International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation
(ICTPI), which was held in Lisbon in August of 1998. While the idea of inclusive development entails a process of shared
prosperity across the globe following local specific conditions, it is crucial to understand both the features of knowledgeinduced growth in rich countries, as well as the challenges and opportunities for late-industrialized and less developed
countries. Thus, this special issue includes a set of extended contributions to the Lisbon conference that are largely
grounded on empirical experiences of both developed and developing countries. The aim of this introductory paper is to set
the stage for these contributions, with an original contribution on possible roles for science and technology policy in
promoting inclusive development.